Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Amanda Vasquez-Event Analysis

On October 17th I attended the ““Rethinking Service” by Dr. Samuel Wells. Dr. Samuel
Wells is a current priest in London. The readings this week that related to his
lecture were “Frankenstein” by
Mary Shelley, “Formula” by
Langston Hughes, and “Old Walt”
by Langston Hughes. Each of these readings and lecture focused on living life
without any regrets.

The Rethinking service led by Dr. Samuel
Wells was about the essential problems of human existence. People now a days
would think it would be mortality and a problem without an answer. On the other
hand Dr. Wells believed that it is isolation. He said life is not worth having
if you are alone forever. He actually referred that to the definition of hell.
To further his point he explained the difference between being there for
someone and being with someone. I found this to be a very interesting because
he explained how being with someone is much harder than being there for
someone. This is because by being with someone you have to have an actual
relationship with them and spend more time with that person then just doing
things for them to please them. I never thought about it this way. Dr. Wells
really made me think how it’s so different to be there for and with someone.
Being with someone is also a key to Christian story. Dr. Wells used this
example to help us understand his point was a story about how Lazlo and
Katherine were trapped and Katherine was in really bad condition. If Lazlo
didn’t get help she could die any second. He had a choice of staying with
Katherine and being there for her in her final hours or going on a 3-day
journey to find help. He chooses to go look for help and by the time he got
back she had past away. The message of this story was that Lazlo should have
been there for Katherine instead of leaving her to die alone. He was scarred to
watch her die even though all she needed was the comfort from a close loved one
in her final hours. In the end Lazlo ended up dying because of a plane crash
but the difference was that people who didn’t even know him stayed with him
until he had past. Dr. Wells was trying to get across that our society today is
a lot like Lazlo. We leave in fear and with regrets because we don’t give life
our all. We choose to run away from a situation than facing it dead on. This
lecture taught me a very valuable lesson about life. Next time I am in a
situation that the person needs me I will choose to stay with them rather then
be afraid to get close to them.

In “Formula” by Langston Hughes the
speaker explains what he thinks poetry is. There is no right or wrong way to
write poetry. The best way to get out your feelings is to write poetry. It
shows how your really feeling without the pressure of everyone else surrounding
you. It can also show who we really are as a person and not living in fear or
regret. By writing poetry you cannot run away from a problem, you can get out
all of your feelings on paper without anyone judging you.

In “Old Walt” by Langston Hughes the speaker
is referring to Walt Whitman. He explains how Walt goes finding and seeking to
write his own poetry. He is a very detailed person and by finding what he’s
looking for it allows him to create very influential poems. I think this poem
portrays a great message to the readers. It teaches us that we need to go find
ourselves and who we are as a person by going out of our comfort zones. This
goes back to the common theme by having no regrets because if you never break
away from your normal life then you haven’t experienced life to the fullest.

In “Frankenstein” by Mary Shelley Victor
creates a monster that in the end wasn’t what he expected it to be. He isolated
himself from the world and even his family to create a new different kind of
life. This relates back to the “Rethinking Lecture” because he explains how
isolation is the biggest problem of human existence. Victor also believed in
himself that he could do it and he put his all into it. Even though his dream
didn’t turn out the way he wanted to he still tried his best and didn’t leave
anything behind. This is what our world needs to be like, not living in fear.

Each of these
readings and lecture show that we cant give up when things get tough. We need
to stay true to ourselves and not live in fear.
If we do live in fear then we cant give the situation our full potential
and end up regretting what we did after. This relates back to the Jesuit
education by not betraying who we really are and the lecture showed how we
should always be there for one another.